This C.C. is coming on before us for hearing; in the presence of Government Pleader for opposite party No.1; and of Sri. A. Sarath Chander, Advocate for opposite party No.3; and the complainant appeared  in person; and the opposite party No.2 called absent; upon perusing the material papers on record; upon hearing and having stood over for consideration, this Forum passed the following:-

O R D E R

(Per Smt.V.Vijaya Rekha, Member)

This complaint is filed under section 12(1) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. 

2.      The brief facts as mentioned in the complaint are that the mother of complainant was a member in the village self help group, established under Indira Kranthi Patham / Abhaya Hastham Scheme.  Under said scheme, the members are eligible to get pension at the age of 60 years and insurance facility in the event of natural / accidental death.  The mother of complainant contributed Rs.30/- per month since 01-11-2009 till her death towards pension and insurance amounts.  On 22-04-2014 the mother of complainant was died due to ill health, being the nominee, the complainant submitted claim form along with required documents to the opposite parties No. 1 and 2.  The complainant further submitted that under Abhaya Hastham Scheme, an amount of Rs.5,000/- is to be paid to the nominee immediately after death of the member but the opposite parties did not pay any amounts after death of his mother.  On 25-11-2014 the complainant came to know through the Website of Telangana State Government that the opposite parties had paid Rs.5,000/- on 14-07-2014 and the claim was rejected on 07-08-2014.  The claim was rejected by the reason that the insured committed suicide by consuming pesticide / insecticide.  The complainant also submitted that the rejection of claim is unlawful and without any substantial proof and as such alleges the deficiency of service and approached this Forum by praying to direct the opposite parties to pay Rs.30,000/- towards insurance amount and to direct the opposite parties No. 1 and 2 each to pay Rs.10,000/- towards damages and further direct the opposite party No.3 to pay Rs.10,000/- towards compensation together with interest at 12% per annum from the date of death of his mother till realization and costs.   

 3.     In support of his case, the complainant filed affidavit and Exhibits      A-1 to A-7.

4.      After service of notice, the opposite party No.1 filed its counter and submitted that the village committee informed that the mother of complainant was committed suicide and as such the claim was rejected and further submitted that due to non-filing of complaint before police, no final report was filed.  Therefore, prayed to dismiss the complaint. 

5.       The opposite party No.3 filed its counter by submitting that under Abhaya Hastham Scheme, LIC of India / opposite party No.3 and the nodal agency / opposite party No.2 were entered into group insurance policy contract.  An amount of Rs.30,000/- will be paid to the nominee through the nodal agency in the event of natural death of the member of Abhaya Hastham Scheme, among which, Rs.5,000/- is to be paid to the nominee immediately after death of member, remaining amount of Rs.25,000/- is to be paid after submission of claim papers by the nominee to the nodal agency and after admission of claim by the LIC.  The opposite party No.3 further submitted that as per policy, the nodal agency shall forward the claim papers, received from the nominee, but it was not received any claim intimation / claim papers pertaining to the mother of the complainant from the nodal agency and as such the deficiency of service would not arise on the part of it and prayed to dismiss the complaint with costs.     

          Along with a memo the opposite party No.3 filed photocopy of MOU, between the opposite party No.2 and 3, marked under exhibit B1.

6.      In support of his averments the complainant filed Written Arguments.

7.      In view of above submissions, now the point that arose for consideration is,

Whether the complainant is entitled to the relief as prayed for?

Point:-       

          According to the aforementioned averments and basing on the material on record, it is a fact that the mother of complainant has contributed Rs.30/- per month since 01-11-2009 till her death as a member of self help group under Indira Kranthi Patham / Abhaya Hastham pension  and insurance scheme.  It is a co-contributory pension and insurance scheme, launched by the State Government for providing assistance and empowerment of women, for which, the government also co-contributed Rs.30/- per every month.  The contributions of member and the government is periodically transferred to LIC of India for generating investment till the age of 60 years of such member, which will be used for giving monthly pension on crossing 60 years of age.  The scheme is also provides death and disability benefits in the event of natural / accidental death.  It is the case of the complainant; that his mother was died due to ill health on 22-04-2014 evidenced under death certificate, marked as exhibit A-3.  Thereafter, submitted claim form along with requirements to the opposite parties No.1 and 2 but the claim was rejected basing on the information received from the village committee that the insured was committed suicide by consuming poison, the opposite party No.1 also taken the same plea in its counter.  Exhibit A-5 is the claim tracking details, obtained from the official website of State Government of Telangana, according to which, the death was intimated to the opposite parties on 11-07-2014 and the claim was rejected by them on 07-08-2014. After having considered, we have opined that without relying on any valid proof, the cause of death cannot be considered as suicide and as such the reason for rejection of claim as mentioned by the opposite parties No.1 and 2 is not at all justifiable.   So, the plea taken by the opposite party No.1 would not be succeeded.  The opposite parties No.1 and 2 have failed to place any material even after filing of present complaint.  Therefore, the point is answered accordingly by holding that it is the bounden duty of the opposite parties No.1 and 2 to forward the claim form along with the requirements, already submitted to them by the complainant, to the opposite party No.3 / insurer and in turn it is also the obligation of the opposite party No.3 to settle the claim under terms and condition of Abhaya Hastham Scheme without any delay. 

8.      In the result, the complaint is allowed in part, directing the opposite parties No. 1 and 2 to forward the claim form along with all the requirements to the opposite party No. 3 within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order.   The opposite party No. 3 is also directed to settle the claim of the complainant under terms and conditions of Indira Kranthi Patham pension and insurance scheme within 15 days from the date of  receipt of claim papers from the opposite party No.2.  The opposite parties No.1 and 2 are further directed to pay Rs.1,000/- towards damages and Rs.1,000/- towards costs to the complainant.       

           Typed to dictation, corrected and pronounced by us in the open forum, on this the 25^th day of October, 2016.

                                                FAC President              Member      

                                           District Consumer Forum, Khammam

APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE

WITNESSES EXAMINED:-

For Complainant                                                    For Opposite party  

       None                                                                          None

DOCUMENTS MARKED:-

For Complainant                                                    For Opposite party

FAC President              Member

     District Consumer Forum, Khammam.